That Polish Pottery at TJ Maxx: What To Look For, Illustrated

Remember how, a few weeks ago, I was griping about how TJ Maxx always has loads of the same Polish pottery on their shelves, and they've had it for years, and I have to scooch it aside and peer around it to look for my Denby? 'Member that? And then in the comments, an astute reader, Meghan, pointed out that people love that Boleslawiec stuff, and it's highly sought after, and can be very expensive. We agreed that there must be differences in quality--that some of what is labeled "Boleslawiec" was very fine and some was a little humdrum. Then I looked into it and found out that Boleslawiec is a town in Poland where they've made pottery since forever. So, as with porcelain that's called "Limoges," Boleslawiec denotes a region rather than a specific factory.

Then the other night I was taking a turn through the dishes at my local TJ's. My attention was captured by this:

Two sugar bowls, but not alike in dignity. Both have "Boleslawiec" backstamps. But which one catches your eye more? The one on the right is decorated in really only two colors--the cobalt blue and the green. The one on the left has a lot of color--more than shows up in this picture I took with my phone. It just looks intricate and busy in a good way. Here are the bottoms:

The one on the right has the big "B" mark that I've seen before on the stuff in TJ's. It says, "Boleslawiec" and "Hand Made." The one on the left has a little castle image, and it says "Unikat" ("unique"), and it has a style or pattern number hand-painted on. Also it has a blue sticker in addition to the white TJ's pricetag, which in TJ's land, can mean "This item is a little better." (If you ever find something with a purple tag, snatch it up and carry it around the store with you to keep anyone else from getting it, while you decide. Also, call me, because I want to hear about it.)

And look at this backstamp, on a little bowl. In addition to the little castle image, it has the artist's signature, and the style number.

But all those are secondary details. Just look at it. Look at the bowl and the pitcher compared to those plates over there. Intricate designs, vivid colors, and the decoration covers the entire piece. That's what we want. They just look like the work of someone's hand and eye. The green and blue plates cannot compete.

And for the record, the good stuff doesn't cost that much more than the humdrum stuff, in TJ land. That pitcher was $19.99. And the bowl was ten dollars. The cute sugar dish was a couple bucks cheaper than the boring one, because it is smaller? This is the magic of TJ's--they don't always know what they have. I didn't buy any of this. Now let us praise my restraint.

Anyway, I don't know if anyone has the obsessive level of interest that I do in this stuff, but if you like to go thrifting and discount shopping, I think it's fun to train your eye to recognize the real steal. Thank you for scrolling and happy shopping! (I wonder if that pitcher is still over there?)